Happy Easter to everyone!

Sleep when you're dead that's the theory anyway! As usual I'm trying to cram far too much into a weekend as I race to get everything organised and completed in time for the big off at the end of the month.....

• Farewell party to finalise for Saturday 25th April - Taking place at the Mill Tavern in Shottermill, Surrey for anyone who'd like to come down for a hog roast and BBQ in the afternoon.


• Pre-Onionfest fundraiser - 'Spring Onion' taking place tomorrow, Sunday 12th April. Every year I help to manage a charity music festival which raises money for Char's Fund which was set up after the loss of one of my great friends Charlotte Jones who tragically died in the Asian Tsunami. In order to raise some funds to buy a marquee to house this year's bar we're putting on a day of music in The George with loads of great bands and a BBQ so come and join us!


• Diving in Cornwall's freezing water next weekend with another superb friend Dave Brown. Having never dived in the UK's waters before I thought it may be about time to get my feet wet...and cold before I sample the warmth of the Coral Sea!


• Eco-Tourism talk at the Royal Geographic Society in London


• Training run tomorrow with more weight on my back in preparation for the LAMM at the beginning of June

The second stage of the application process to whittle down the final 50 to a final 10 (which later became 15) involved writing a 300-500 word short story explaining lots about your life....I'd love to see if anyone actually only used 300 words, doubt it!

A few people have now made this public so in the name of fair game, I thought I'd do the same....I did initially write it down as a word document but only when it came to within 5hrs of the deadline suddenly thought....everyone will be doing that, lets make another video instead!!

Having my amazing girlfriend Bre there with me at the time helped no end, I was still out in Canada and she suggested a great place to go and film it, Lynn Canyon suspension bridge in the middle of another awesome part of North Vancouver.

Yes again the temperature was touching freezing, just as with my initial application video when I filmed the 'Practically a fish myself' scene, so the camera batteries kept dying in the middle of takes which meant racing back to the Ecology Centre to recharge and warm them up and all of this knowing that the clock was ticking closer to the deadline. But we did it and here it is....

Should be reporting back very soon on some exciting little gadgets I've acquired to make reporting on my blog more interesting and interactive later this week....watch this space!

Enjoy your Easter holidays wherever you are in the world :)

Ben